I drove this awesome 10 mile winding back road located here in LA County. It is a mix of quick sharp turns and up and down hills. I did it by chance when my RC buddies decided to meet for some RC fun. After our RC session. My friend who has an EVO IX knew about Turnbull Canyon and was telling me how cool the road is for testing our cars. I had no idea what this road is all about.
We decided to go ahead and run the 10 mile winding road. And WOW, what a cool experience. I had the chance to run my IS350 to its potential along with his EVO IX. I was most definitely out performing him but I think he was driving apprehensively. But I am not here comparing my car to his, but to let you know that I even love this car more than ever. I had the power switch on and was in shift mode. I did not do the VDIM or whatever that trick is just to make sure I do not lose traction, and I was correct because they were some areas that it seem like it was meant as a rally coarse. I was mostly in 2nd and 3rd gear only and the shifter did not fail me, it most definitely shifts fast when you need too. The car's slip light came on twice but the car stayed pointed to where I wanted to go. I ask my friend when he was behind me if the car was leaning much because I thought it was very stable and he says not at all. As far as a comparison between my IS and his EVO? Well let us say that I do like the EVO IX but I'm in-love with my IS.
This was one time I wished I had my Vid Cam mounted on my dash.

 

Awesome! I wanna take my car out to a place like that for some fun sometime. Is it far from Irvine? Also, do you know of a track anywhere around here in Orange County? I'm not too familiar with the area yet, but those are definitely some places I wanna check out. Was it safe out there in TurnBull Canyon, as far as other drivers, cliffs etc? I'm guess it's in a pretty remote area.

 

take your car out to a track day and get some lap times . . . makes for a better comparison

I would venture to say that neither you or your buddy were driving the cars anywhere close to their potential. But no one can prove either way . . . unless you time it.

for socal track days:

www.speedventures.com
www.redlinetrackevents.com

 

you should try driving oh highway 1 between Carmel and Pismo Beach. It's just turn after turn after turn--with a nice view of the ocean the whole way. pretty fun

 

sounds like a blast

 

i gotta tell you, turnbull is most definitely not the safest place in the world to be driving that fast. it is exactly what you think of it as.. a canyon. the road's carved into the side of a cliff.

that said, izzy you guys have got to have the biggest ***** in the world driving such fast cars there. the turns come at you sharp and hard, and if you mash the pedal too much and don't scrub off speed in time you're headed for either air or rocky wall. i did the run in my brother's much, much slower-but-ridiculously-fun-to-drive-in-corners RSX.. it was a blast. but in any car much faster than that.. i'd be scared ****less

the run is unbelievably fun, just be SAFE. for those curious, the most general location i can think of it is near the 60 and 605 freeway intersections.

 

that is why the track is a much better option. more run off room, the track is wide enough to actually practice racing fundamentals and using the entire track . . . and you actually have lap times to back up your "i was driving the car to its potential" claims.

 

I honestly think that turnbull canyon is TOO dangerous for running... if you're going UP and someone else is going down (or the other way around), bad things can happen. The turns are VERY sharp and almost all are blind!! I've ran down the hill w/ a S14 w/ SR20 before... he has *****. I just took my sweet *** time going down the road lol... but I've seen a lot of idiots crash up there also... TONS of Civics into the guardrail, 1 Miata w/ a (I guess?) bent axle... and a S13 w/ the fender pressing into the damn tire... some of the damage didn't even make sense... all I know is that the guy kept yelling "MY BROTHER IS GONNA KILL ME" ^_^

Be careful... at least you left the eletronic nanny on

 

True! True! We heard the stories and kept that thought in mind. The road was clear and the condition was permitting (besides the rocks and dirt falling off from the cliff! )
It was a definite fun and exciting experience. The IS for me and at the moment is the coolest. One thing for sure is that you will not find me driving there at night time.

 

I was not really sure what we were up against. My friend was in front of me at first and I was tailing him. Then he pulled over for me to pass, next thing I know he was no longer behind me, I pulled over and waited a good 5 sec., I felt I had my adrenalin pumped already, so I let him pass me since he was running slower. One thing also was after the run, we pulled over and his engine was smelling burnt but he said that is how it is when pushed.

As far as the track. That is in my list of things to do for 06. It is cool too that Signal (tech site) is just a close distance to my work. I am still trying to see if I can borrow or rent a helmet, bcause I do not want to buy something then use it only ones. any ideas?

 

well, first off, my guess is once you go to the track, you won't want to do it only once.

second is, if you go to buttonwillow, they rent out helmets at reasonable rates.

third, if you've got a buddy with a helmet, now's the time to start being nice to him

 

ok, time to get a third car, maybe the EVO 9

 

haha. or just track the IS350. and take some pics. you'd be the first

 

first rule of the touge dont tell anyone your spot now cops are gonna be just camping up there picking people off !!!!!!!

 

yea... and avoid the phantom panda ae86 too... also the evo 5... i heard he'll knock you off the road...

there's spirited driving and "racing" ... i certainly hope no one is going to touge up or down the hill in a $40K car x_x